SERVICE AREA

I would like to know, especially from the co.'s that have 80 to 100 accounts, how far you travel to complete a circuit. What is the radius you will travel? Do/will you go into neighboring towns and what do you want out of that town to make it profitable. I am thinking about dropping some of my &quot;outer limit&quot; customers and keep a tighter hub so to speak.<p>Thanks

Good idea to tighten up the loop. I did that several years ago. <p>We have a little over 100 accounts right now. 60% are within a mile of my house (because I flier the snot out of the surrounding areas) and the other 40% are within 10 miles or less. I work 3 cities, but they are all very close to one another. They really just blend together. They are 3 suburbs in SW Portland. But I stick to my guns. I have drawn the line as to where we service. Anyone outside those lines gets referred to one of my landscaping buddies in that area. <p>Keep as close to home as possible. It helps in more ways than I can list. Save on drive time obviously. Also, it's a lot easier to collect payments, go address needs of customers personally, and give estimates in a timely manner if they are close by. <p>----------<br>Jim Lewis - Lewis Landscape Services<br>http://www.lewislandscape.com

That really is good advise there, Jim. I don't know if within a mile is realistic for most folks, but the principle...<p>Also, they type of work is important. No more than:<br>4-5 minutes travel to a residential mowing.<br>10 minutes for larger commercial mowing.<br>10-12 minutes for residential fertilizer/weed.<br>15-20 for commercial weed & feed.<br>Up to 30 minutes for landscape installation, depending on job size.<p>For residential snowplowing, I limit the travel time to 45 seconds from another customer.

Man I wish I only had a few miles to go. Currently drive 45 miles one way for work. The market I'm aiming for is the same distance. Plan on moving to the city next year. But this first year of mowing will be spendy in gas and time. I guess no worse than now. I spend 400$ a month the way it is to commute now.

Well here in Pittsburgh, we don't measure distance in miles, but rather minutes. You may only want to go a few thousand feet, but you have to cross over bridges, through tunnes, across railroad tracks, over and under passes as well. <p>I am out in the suburbs, and have my route trimmed to about a max drive of 15 minutes from home. I had some accounts that were about 20-25 minutes, but gave them up, and picked up some more around home. <p>This coming season I am trimming a bit more. I hope to have a circle 10 minutes from my house. I do have a cemetery that is about a 20 minute drive each way, but since that takes a bit of time, I don't mind the drive. I will usually do it forst thing, or last thing. That way, I simply leave a bit early, or get home a little later, no big deal.<p>With a 10 minute radius, I will have a max drive time of 20 minutes, but that would be rare, because I plan my route efficently.